A payment gateway is the service that takes card payments in your online store and sends the money to your account. In Spain, Stripe keeps 1.5% + €0.25 for each payment with a European card and PayPal, 2.90% + €0.35, while Redsys is contracted through your bank and the bank sets the fee. If you sell cheap items, the fixed part weighs more than the percentage, so the cheapest one depends on what your average order costs.
Below you can see who sells each one, how much it keeps per sale with examples of €€10,30 and €100, when you get the money and what happens when a customer returns an order or files a chargeback with the bank.
The three options and who sells them to you
All three do the same thing from the customer's point of view. They ask for the card, check that the payment goes through, and notify you that the customer has paid. The only difference is who you sign with and how they charge you.
| Gateway | Who you sign with | Published fee |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | With Stripe, online | 1.5% + €0.25 with a European card |
| PayPal | With PayPal, online | 2.90% + €0.35 per domestic sale |
| Redsys | With your bank | Your bank sets it in the contract |
Redsys does not sell to merchants. It provides the payment service to banks, and you sign up for its virtual POS, online card payment processing, with any of the banks that work with them. That's why its website has no rates for stores and they send you to talk to your bank.
Since each bank sets the price, you can ask more than one bank for a quote and take the best one. The downside is that you can't compare without having those quotes in writing.
Stripe and PayPal publish their rates on their websites, with no monthly fee. Stripe puts it this way: no monthly or setup fees. Neither one states on its rates page whether those fees include VAT.
How much each one keeps per sale
With the published rates, this is what it costs you to take payment for an order with a Spanish card. It's our own calculation, using each one's standard rate.
| Order | Stripe | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| €10 | €0.40, a 4% | €0.64, a 6.4% |
| €30 | €0.70, a 2.3% | €1.22, a 4.1% |
| €100 | €1.75, a 1.75% | €3.25, a 3.25% |
On a €10 order, Stripe's fixed €0.25 is more than half of what you pay. On a €100 order, the fixed part is barely noticeable. That's why a spare parts or cosmetics store, with small orders, pays proportionally much more than a furniture store.
Scale it to a month. With 200 orders of €30, which is €6,000 in sales, Stripe keeps €140 and PayPal, €244. Of Stripe's €€140,50 is just the fixed part.
Watch out for customers from abroad. If you sell to tourists or buyers from the United Kingdom, Stripe charges 2.5% + €0.25 with their cards, and more if there is a currency conversion. On the Costa del Sol that can be a big part of your sales.
With Redsys, ask your bank for three things: the percentage per sale, whether there is a fixed amount per transaction, and whether there is a monthly fee. With that, you can build the same table and compare properly.
When you get the money
The customer paying does not mean the money is already in your account. Each gateway takes a few days to send it to you, and that matters if you buy inventory with what you sell.
Stripe, for a Spanish account, takes 7 calendar days to send your first transfer. After that, the normal time is 3 business days, so what you sell on a Monday arrives on Thursday.
PayPal puts the money into your PayPal balance, and from there you transfer it to your bank account. Transferring it to a Spanish account has no fee if there is no currency conversion. The days it takes depend on the withdrawal type you choose, so check it in your account before counting on that money.
With Redsys, the timeframe in which your bank pays out sales is in your contract. Ask about it before signing, along with the fee.
What happens with a refund or a chargeback
In an online store, your customer has 14 calendar days to back out without giving a reason. Consumer law says so, so refunds are going to happen, and it's worth knowing how much they cost you.
There are two different cases, and they don't cost the same.
| What happens | Stripe | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| You refund the money | Free, but you don't get the fee back | Free, but you don't get the fee back |
| The customer files a chargeback with the bank | €20 per chargeback | €14 or €16, depending on how they paid |
The normal refund, the one you issue from the dashboard, costs nothing with either one. What you lose is the fee you paid when charging. On a €30 order with Stripe, €0.70 that doesn't come back.
A bank dispute is another thing. It happens when the customer doesn't ask you for a refund and goes directly to their bank to say they don't recognize the charge. Stripe charges €20 for each one you receive, and another €20 if you dispute it manually, although they refund that to you if you win. With an order of €15, a single dispute costs you more than the sale.
With Redsys, each bank also charges for refunds and chargebacks. Get them to include them in your contract.
Which one to choose based on your store
There is no single best payment gateway for everyone. It depends on what you sell, who you sell to and what your bank offers you.
Stripe works for you if you're starting out, you don't want to negotiate with anyone and you mostly sell to European customers. You sign up online and the rates are there for all to see.
PayPal is more expensive per sale. If your customers ask for it, it makes sense to offer it as a second option, alongside card payment.
Redsys is worth it when your bank gives you a better price than Stripe for your average order. Run the numbers with their offer and you'll see.
If your store is on Shopify, also look at what Shopify charges for using a payment gateway other than its own. We cover it in custom online store or template, with the prices for each platform.
Before deciding, run the numbers with your average order, the orders you get per month and the ones you refund. With that, the table above tells you which one is cheaper for you.
With us, an online store costs from €3,500 + VAT, including the catalog, payments and the order dashboard. We tell you which payment gateway suits you based on your numbers and we leave it connected and tested before you open. In online store you have what's included, and in pricing, everything else. We reply Monday to Friday, from 9:00 to 19:00, in less than 2 hours.
Sells soaps and creams from €12 to €25, and fees eat up a good part of the margin on each order.
We run the numbers with their real average order and compare Stripe with their bank's Redsys offer. We add PayPal as a second option, for customers who don't want to give their card details. We set a minimum order for free shipping, so the average order goes up and the fixed part weighs less.
from€3,500
Sources
- Stripe: 1.5% + €0.25 with standard cards from the European Economic Area (accessed 3 Nov 2026)
- Stripe: no monthly or setup fee (3 Nov 2026)
- Stripe: 2.5% + €0.25 with UK cards, plus 2% if there is a currency conversion (3 Nov 2026)
- Stripe: refunding a payment has no cost, but the fee is not refunded (3 Nov 2026)
- Stripe: €20 for each dispute received (3 Nov 2026)
- Stripe: €20 for disputing a chargeback manually, refunded if you win (3 Nov 2026)
- Stripe, Spain: first payout in 7 calendar days and then in 3 business days (3 Nov 2026)
- PayPal: 2.90% plus a fixed fee per domestic sale (3 Nov 2026)
- PayPal: the fixed fee in euros is €0.35 (3 Nov 2026)
- PayPal: refunding has no cost, but the charge fee is not refunded (3 Nov 2026)
- PayPal: €16 per card chargeback (3 Nov 2026)
- PayPal: €14 fee for a standard dispute (3 Nov 2026)
- PayPal: withdrawing the balance to a local bank account has no fee without currency conversion (3 Nov 2026)
- Redsys: its virtual POS is set up with the banks that work with them (3 Nov 2026)
- Redsys refers you to your bank for questions and setup (3 Nov 2026)
- Redsys serves financial institutions and payment providers (3 Nov 2026)
- Consumer Law, art. 102: 14 calendar days to withdraw from a distance purchase (3 Nov 2026)
